Rising temperatures, extreme weather, public health threats — there’s no question that climate change is one of the greatest threats to our security, our planet, and our future. So what can we do about it?
Here’s one decisive step t…
Author: Tanya Somanader
Weekly Address: Stand Up for American Workers and Pass TAA
President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
June 12, 2015.
(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
In this week’s address, the President reiterated that his top priority is to grow the American economy and ensure that every hardworking American has a fair shot at success. It’s because of this commitment that the President has worked to enact smart new trade agreements that level the playing field for our workers, open new markets for our businesses, and hold other countries to the kinds of high standards that Americans are proud to hold ourselves to here at home.
On Friday, Republicans and Democrats in the House took an important step by voting to help the United States negotiate and enforce high-standard trade deals. But they also failed to renew Trade Adjustment Assistance, despite the fact that it provides vital support to about 100,000 workers, and passed the Senate with bipartisan support. The President urged the House to pass TAA without delay so that more middle-class workers can earn the chance to participate and succeed in our global economy.
Transcript | mp4 | mp3
MAP: What Does Trade Adjustment Assistance Mean for Workers in Your State?
What is Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and why should you care if Congress fails to reauthorize it?
Ask Jessica Kinkade.
Jessica, a Eugene, Oregon native, worked in the stockroom managing inventory, pulling work orders, and performing quality control. After four years of employment, she was laid off due to foreign competition. She called the TAA program, was among a group of workers certified as eligible to apply for assistance, and was soon determined eligible for TAA benefits and services.
“The team I am now a part of is beyond helpful,” she said. “I would not be where I am now if it weren’t for the incredible opportunity I had through TAA. I am a better woman, mother, wife, and employee because of this experience!”
For more than 40 years, TAA has helped support U.S. workers who are adversely affected by globalization and trade by providing job training support, career counseling, wage supplements for older workers, job search and reallocation allowances, and income support for workers in training programs.
It has served as a lifeline for more than 2.2 million workers across all 50 states. In just the past six years, the TAA program has made income support and job training benefits available to hundreds of thousands of American workers.
Check out the map below from the Department of Labor to see how many workers like Jessica have been certified to receive job training and other TAA benefits since October 2009 in each state:
Chart of the Week: What It Takes to Start a Business in America
When it comes to ease of doing business, America is top 10 in the world. But when it comes to starting a business, we’re ranked 46th.
For a country that the most creative, productive, and innovative entrepreneurs call home, this shouldn’t b…
America’s LGBT Ambassadors: Global Trade Will Lift Up LGBT Lives
Eight of the nation’s most powerful LGBT leaders explain how proposed trade agreements will export our values of equality and tolerance. This letter was first posted on the Advocate.com. You can read the original post here.
As Ambassadors, we are on the front lines representing the United States. We know firsthand that U.S. interests are best served when we pursue policies that also advance our values.
That’s why trade policy is among our most promising tools.
Through the President’s trade agenda, we will not only support more American jobs, but we can also promote greater justice beyond our borders.
Can You Guess What These Charts Are Telling You?
Love charts? We’ve pulled together a select batch of them and removed the titles and labels.
See if you can guess the story each of them tells – then challenge your chart-loving friends to take it, too. We guarantee you’ll learn something that surprises you.
What Am I: Can you guess what these charts are telling you?
Thanks to five years of the Affordable Care Act, health care looks a lot different in America. How different?
Find out by taking this quiz to see if you can figure out exactly what the President’s health care law is doing for millions of Americans across the country.
Begin Quiz
1. What am I?
- Percentage of people watching Grey’s Anatomy
- Percentage of Americans without health insurance
- Number of emergency room visits in the U.S.
- Total number of sick days used by workers in the U.S.
Well done. In fact, more than 16 million Americans have found an affordable, quality health care plan under the ACA, causing a cliff-like drop in the number of Americans living without the health insurance they need. And that’s a great thing!
Not quite. It’s actually the percentage of Americans without health insurance since 2000. See how it takes a nosedive recently? That’s thanks to the ACA, which became law on March 23, 2010. Under this law, more than 16 million Americans have gained affordable, quality health care coverage, driving our country’s uninsured rate to a new low.
Next Question
2. What am I?
- Projected deficit reduction due to the ACA
- Projected reduction in number of uninsured Americans
- Projected reduction in patients harmed by hospital error
- Projected temperature in Antarctica
Nice one. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the ACA will generate substantial deficit savings that grow over time, for a total savings of $1.7 trillion over two decades. This is important because lower long-term deficits have a domino-effect of higher national income and wages over time.
So close. This chart is actually a look at how much the ACA will reduce the deficit over time. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the ACA will generate a total savings of $1.7 trillion for our deficit over two decades. This is important because lower long-term deficits have a domino-effect of higher national income and wages over time.
Next Question
3. What am I?
- Drop in young adults with health coverage
- Drop in percent of patients harmed by hospital error
- Drop in government spending on health care
- Drop in Americans with health insurance
Right! The Affordable Care Act has helped reduce multiple different kinds of “patient harms,” including adverse drug events, pressure ulcers, infections, and more. The reduction in patient harms has helped prevent an estimated 50,000 deaths.
It’s actually the drop in patients harmed. Surprised? The Affordable Care Act has helped reduce multiple different kinds of “patient harms,” including adverse drug events, pressure ulcers, infections, and more, and the reduction in patient harms has helped prevent an estimated 50,000 deaths.
Next Question
4. What am I?
- Percent of Americans who like pie charts
- The first dogs’ approval rating
- Percent of Marketplace enrollees who receive tax credits to help pay monthly premiums
- Percent of Americans who visited the emergency room last year
Nailed it. The overwhelming majority of Americans who shopped on health care marketplaces qualified for tax credits, which are helping millions of Americans afford the coverage they need.
Nope! It’s actually the percent of Americans who qualified for tax credits while shopping on health care marketplaces, allowing them to afford the coverage they need.
Next Question
5. What am I?
- Americans who no longer have lifetime limits
- People who have access to free preventive services
- Self-diagnoses on webmd each year
- People no longer at risk of being denied coverage
Correct! Before the ACA, someone with a pre-existing condition, like cancer, could be denied the coverage they needed. The ACA prohibited that, ensuring that 129 million Americans will always have access to affordable, quality coverage.
Nope. Before the ACA, someone with a pre-existing condition, like cancer, could be denied the coverage they needed. The ACA prohibited that, ensuring that 129 million Americans will always have access to affordable, quality coverage.
Next Question
6. What am I?
- Number of death panels created under the ACA
- Number of free preventive services now available
- Number of young adults who can stay on their parents’ plans
- Number of women who have access to birth control with no co-pay
Exactly. Zero death panels were created as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Sorry, but the correct answer is zero death panels. The Affordable Care Act has never created one, nor will it ever.
Finish
You got questions correct.
Most people don’t realize exactly what health reform has meant for millions of Americans. Learn something new in this quiz? We bet your friends will, too.
Challenge them to take it — then head to wh.gov/health-care-in-america to see more, including the President’s remarks about health care in America.
Challenge someone: Twitter Facebook
Start Over
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President Obama Delivers a Eulogy Honoring the Life of Beau Biden
“He did in 46 years what most of us couldn’t do in 146.
He left nothing in the tank. He was a man who led a life where the means were as important as the ends. The example he set made you want to be a better dad, or a better son, or a better brother or sister, better at your job, the better soldier.
He made you want to be a better person. Isn’t that finally the measure of a man -– the way he lives, how he treats others, no matter what life may throw at him?”
– President Obama
Today, the Biden family, President Obama, and Americans across the country paid their final respects to a good man who loved deeply, and was loved in return.
A veteran of the Iraq war, the Attorney General of Delaware — and most importantly — a dedicated father, husband, and son, Beau Biden was a compassionate, empathetic, public servant who cared about what matters most in life, the people and country he loved.
President Obama delivered a eulogy in honor of Beau Biden at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, Delaware:
Weekly Address: Celebrating Immigrant Heritage Month
President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the Map Room of the White House.
June 5, 2015.
(Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
In this week’s address, the President recognized Immigrant Heritage Month, an occasion that allows us to celebrate our origins as a nation of immigrants. The basic idea of welcoming people to our shores is central to our ancestry and our way of life. That’s why the President asked everyone to visit whitehouse.gov/NewAmericans and share stories of making it to America.
And as we celebrate our heritage and our diversity, the President promised to continue to fight to fix our current broken immigration system and make it more just and more fair, strengthening America in the process.
Transcript | mp4 | mp3
Remembering Beau Biden
Beau Biden lived a life of service. He put his duty to his children, his wife, his family, his fellow service-members, and his country first.
On Saturday, May 30, the country lost a good man and a great example of how to spend each day you’re given to better the lives of others.
Read a few words of wisdom that Beau Biden shared during his 46 years of life. They reveal much about the most beloved man we mourn — and the incredible legacy he leaves behind.
In Memory of Beau Biden: “Quite Simply, The Finest Man Any Of Us Have Ever Known”
“Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known” –Vice President Joe Biden
On Saturday, May 30, our country lost a dedicated public servant – a fighter for justice on the frontlines of war and in the co…